Patent Application
20120001061
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to an ion implanted beam dump.
Beam dumps absorb incident light and are used to capture unwanted beams. In laboratory settings, they are used to stop stray laser beams. In instrumentation settings, they are used to contain a beam within a portion of the instrument.
The absorptive property or anti-reflective property of a beam dump can be characterized by its apparent reflection factor. For example, incident light may be reflected twice off a black cone whose reflection factor determines the observed reflection of the unit. In this case, the lower the reflection factor, the more efficient the beam dump will be in absorbing the incident light. Thus, it is often a design goal for beam dump design to make beam dumps with reflection factors that are as low as possible.
Designing beam dumps with low reflection factors normally involves keeping the active surface clean of dust, grease and scratches. Such a beam bump is shown in
The structural integrity of the beam dump shown in
According to an aspect of the invention, an optical device is provided and includes a beam splitter disposed to direct a first portion of a light beam propagating along a first light path along a second light path transverse to the first light path and to permit a second portion of the light beam to propagate along a third light path oriented in line with the first light path and a beam dump disposed on the third light path and including a surface upon which the second light beam portion is incident, the beam dump surface having ion implantation defects formed thereon to absorb a substantial entirety of the second light beam portion.
According to another aspect of the invention, an optical device is provided and includes a main component defining a first light path along which a light beam propagates, a beam splitter disposed to direct a first portion of the light beam along a second light path transverse to the first light path and to permit a second portion of the light beam to propagate along a third light path oriented in line with the first light path, a detector disposed on the second light path to detect the first light beam portion and a beam dump disposed on the third light path and including a surface upon which the second light beam portion is incident, the beam dump surface having ion implantation macroscopic/physical defects formed thereon to absorb a substantial entirety of the second light beam portion.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, a method of assembling an optical device in which a beam splitter directs a first portion of a light beam propagating along a first light path along a second light path transverse to the first light path and permits a second portion of the light beam to propagate along a third light path oriented in line with the first light path is provided and includes exposing a surface of a beam dump to ion implantation to thereby form ion implantation defects thereon and disposing the beam dump on the third light path such that the second light beam portion is incident on the beam dump surface having the ion implantation defects.
According to yet another aspect of the invention, an optical telescope is provided and includes an eyepiece, a silvered mirror to reflect light toward the eyepiece, a housing to support the eyepiece and the silvered mirror and first and second beam dump components each having a beam dump component surface with ion implanted defects formed thereon, which are disposed at areas about the eyepiece and the silvered mirror, respectively, to absorb stray light.
These and other advantages and features will become more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the drawings.
The subject matter which is regarded as the invention is particularly pointed out and distinctly claimed in the claims at the conclusion of the specification. The foregoing and other features, and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:
The detailed description explains embodiments of the invention, together with advantages and features, by way of example with reference to the drawings.
With reference to
The beam splitter 60 is disposed on the first light path 52 and includes a beam splitter body 61. The beam splitter body 61 is configured to direct a first portion 62 of the light beam 55 (hereinafter referred to as “the first light beam portion 62”) along a second light path 63, which is oriented transversely with respect to the first light path 52. The beam splitter body 61 is further configured to permit a second portion 64 of the light beam 55 (hereinafter referred to as “the second light beam portion 64”) to propagate through the beam splitter body 61 and along a third light path 65, which is oriented substantially in line with the first light path 52. Of course, it is understood that this arrangement is merely exemplary and that other arrangements are possible.
A detector 70 is disposed on the second light path 63 and is configured to receive and to detect light of the first light beam portion 62. In this way, the detector 70 may include a telescope eyepiece, a camera eyepiece or a photo detection unit of a photodetector. A beam dump 80 is disposed on the third light path 65 and includes a surface 81 upon which light of the second light beam portion 64 is incident. The beam dump surface 81 may be opaque and has ion implantation macroscopic/physical defects (see
Ion implantation of beam dump surface 81 refers to the acceleration of ions, defined as atoms missing one or more electrons, such as C+, H+, Cs+, Li+, Ca+, N+, Ar+, Kr+, Xe+, H2+, Na+ and/or K+ ions, toward beam dump surface 81 such that ions hitting the beam dump surface 81 cause a sputtering or some other similar surface modification of the material of the beam dump 80, which may be, for example, a metallic material or an alloy of a metallic material. The sputtering or surface modification leads to the formation of bumps, macroscopic/physical and/or other irregularities in the beam dump surface 81, which may have an outward coral-like appearance with the bumps and/or surface irregularities serving to increase an absorbtivity of the beam dump surface 81. This increased absorbtivity may be further increased with the beam dump surface 81 being opaque and with the additional use of absorbtive geometries, as will be discussed below. The effects of ion implantation are permanent as long as the beam dump surface 81 is not extensively fouled.
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
With reference to
In accordance with another aspect, a method of assembling a device, such as the optical device 10 described above, is provided and includes exposing a beam dump surface 81 to ion implantation to thereby form ion implantation defects thereon and disposing the beam dump 80 on the third light path 65 such that the second light beam portion 64 is incident on the beam dump surface 81 having the ion implantation defects. The method further includes forming the beam dump surface 81 to be opaque, the exposing includes implanting any one or more of C+, H+, Cs+, Li+, Ca+, N+, Ar+, Kr+, Xe+, H2+, Na+ and/or K+ ions into the beam dump surface 81 and the disposing includes disposing the beam dump 80 such that a propagation direction of the second light beam portion 64 is normal to a plane of the beam dump surface 81.
With reference to
In accordance with various embodiments, the surface 134 may surround the pathway 132 in a direction that is transverse to a predominant propagation direction, D, of the light 133. Further, the optical device 130 may include a detector 136, such as an eyepiece or film, and an optical element 137, such as a mirroring element, a half mirroring element or an objective lens, to focus or reflect the light 133 toward the detector 136 or another optical element 137. That is, the optical element 137 may be a single or plural features for integration in, for example, a camera having a serpentine light path.
The pathway 132 may be defined from at least the optical element 137 to the detector 136 and, in some cases, from a source inside or outside of the housing 131 to the optical element 137 and/or from the detector 136 to a target similarly inside or outside of the housing 131. The surface 134 may include at least first portions 138 disposed along and around the pathway 132, second portions 139 disposed at areas about the detector 136 and third portions 140 disposed at areas about the optical element 137 to absorb the stray light 135.
While the invention has been described in detail in connection with only a limited number of embodiments, it should be readily understood that the invention is not limited to such disclosed embodiments. Rather, the invention can be modified to incorporate any number of variations, alterations, substitutions or equivalent arrangements not heretofore described, but which are commensurate with the spirit and scope of the invention. Additionally, while various embodiments of the invention have been described, it is to be understood that aspects of the invention may include only some of the described embodiments. Accordingly, the invention is not to be seen as limited by the foregoing description, but is only limited by the scope of the appended claims.
